Thursday, September 10, 2015

Perfect Reflection - Karen Wiesner

Perfect Reflection

Karen Wiesner

Lulu.com, Aug 19 2015, $14.95

ISBN: 9781312395589

In Peaceful, Wisconsin A&A Design Elaina
Houston reflects back to her childhood in which her parents demanded 24/7 perfect
behavior (as defined by them) from her.
She tried to live up to the parental paragon but failed as no person
could meet the expectations demanded by her father and mother. Eventually she gave up attempting to live
someone else’s fantasy at the cost of internal tsuris; though since she quit
trying Elaina almost always focuses on the bad from her past while ignoring the
good. Her only reliefs from self-induced
misery are her belief in the Lord, and her Odd Jobs co-worker and BFF Ethan
Lynwood as he likes the “real” Elaina.

Super-egotistical Ethan believed in his unfailing
genius that led him to make terrible errors that hurt others as he covered for
the misdeeds of his father and especially his brother Sebastian. The camel’s back broke when his sibling’s
actions led to the suicide of Abby, a girl Ethan liked. Giving up on “evil” Sebastian and deciding to
leave his family behind in Chicago, Ethan fled to La Crosse to escape from his
enabling mistakes; as he has learned wisdom without humility and passion for
the Lord and people lead to prideful transgressions. Two years ago Ethan met Elaina. In love with God and each other, neither
anticipated their pasts to arrive with vengeance.

The fifth fantastic Friendship Heirloom
inspirational contemporary (see First Comes Love and Forever And All That Jazz) is a
delightful novel starring two protagonists who turned to God to help them deal
with dysfunctional family histories. The
suspense comes late, but brings completeness (and full circle) to a tremendous
drama.